32 calls in 3 days

To clarify, this is how many phone calls my wife has received since filling out an inquiring about health insurance online.

Shouting from the rooftops doesn’t give you much attention. It certainly doesn’t build trust.

More phone calls doesn’t equal more sales anymore. It’s just noise. Our attention is a precious finite resource. Everyone is bidding at a chance to grab it. We can’t give it away to trolls, critics, or lousy telephone marketers.

When we take humanity out of the equation, we are left with non-human work. So why are we surprised when computers, robots, and soon, artificial intelligence are taking jobs away from humans?

Computers are more compliant, don’t need bathroom breaks, don’t get tired, are cheaper, don’t need overtime pay or holidays, don’t need healthcare or dental, are not unionized, don’t need minimum wage, and they won’t complain about unsafe working conditions.

The person calling on the other end of the line is just doing their job. They’re doing what they’re told. They’re getting paid by conversion. He might be providing for his family. It’s a steady job with a steady wage. I get that. But the system is working overtime to turn this person into a cog in the machine. Interchangeable parts and interchangeable people. He does what he is told until the system decides his services are no longer required because they found someone faster and cheaper.

This is a bad deal.

We don’t need you to emulate a robot. What we need is your insight, your creativity, your genius. We need your art. The kind of art that brings emotional labor to the table to make a connection. We need you to do what you do best, to be human.